Round vs. Square

Every time I start a new series, I start creation of a new world. It's time consuming work. As a creator, I have Mystic Valley, planet Avalon, planet Elyria, and now Cabhán Geal to my credit. Each world must be distinct with its own flora, fauna, people, monetary system, government, and cultural rules. If I repeat too many of the variables, then the readers write to me about that. One fellow writer pointed out that I seem to have a lot of CAVES in my books. Or cavern-like substitutes. Of course, in a primitive setting there aren't very many ready-made shelters other than caves. And most of characters--at one time or another--end up in primitive settings.

I suppose that's a recurring theme I explore--man against nature. It's not usually convenient for the purposes of the story to provide a tent or other dwelling.

My friend maintains I'm figuratively trying to return to the security of the womb. I'm not convinced. But her comment did make me more conscious of my 'cave' settings.

The earliest shelters man contrived outside of the caves were round or dome shaped. Even today, primitive societies live in round huts and tents. The more 'civilized' the society the more corners are incorporated in their shelters. I wonder why that is.

Corners aren't very useful except as storage. We don't sit in corners. Unless a room is very small, we don't sleep in corners. No...corners are reserved for 'things' and usually, those things are storage containers of one sort or another. So maybe that's the purpose of corners. The more stuff we acquire, the more corners we require for the storage of our stuff.

My characters don't have much stuff when their stories begin. And as they acquire stuff through the story, it's always a problem of how to deal with their new acquisitions. Maybe...my stories don't reflect an instinctive return to the womb, but rather how man copes with the constant proliferation of possessions.

Anny